Thursday, December 31, 2015

BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS
(Increasingly, I am sampling books, reading 10%, 20% even 40 or 50% before deciding to move on. The books below are only the ones I've read completely. That also explains what looks like generous grading -- more and more, if I sense a book is not going to be among my favorites, I stop reading. Too many books; too little time!)

1. Mightier Than The Sword (Clifton Chronicles Vol. 5) by Jeffrey Archer **
2. The Marriage Game by Alison Weir ***
3. I'm Glad I Did by Cynthia Weil ** 1/2
4. One Nation, Under Gods by Peter Manseau *** 1/2
5. Always Magic In The Air: The Bomp and Brilliance Of The Brill Building by Ken Emerson ** 1/2
6. God's Bankers by Gerald Posner ***
7. The Future Of The Catholic Church With Pope Francis by Garry Wills ** 1/2
8. The Francis Miracle by John L. Allen ** 1/2
9. The Age Of Acquiescence by Steve Fraser ***/
10. The Monopolists by Mary Pilon ***
11. Early Warning by Jane Smiley ****
12. Nightbird by Alice Hoffman **
13. The Tightrope Walkers by David Almond ****
14. The Tropic Of Serpents by Marie Brennan ***
15. Voyage Of The Basilisk by Marie Brennan ***
16. Hissing Cousins by Marc Peyser and Timothy Dwyer ***
17. Voices In The Night by Steven Millhauser ****
18. Words Without Music by Philip Glass ***
19. Between You And Me by Mary Norris ***
20. Murder Is Bad Manners by Robin Stevens ** 1/2
21. Capital Dames by Cokie Roberts ***
22. Midnight Crossroad by Charlaine Harris ** 1/2
23. Day Shift by Charlaine Harris ***
24. The Wright Brothers by David McCullough ***
25. The Railway Children by E. Nesbit ***
26. The Light Princess by George MacDonald w illus by Maurice Sendak ** 1/2\
27. The Bill Of Rights by Carol Berkin ***
28. Tiger Boy by Mitali Perkins ** 1/2
29. And Sometimes I Wonder About You by Walter Mosley ***
30. The Millionaire And The Bard by Andrea Mays ** 1/2
31. Uprooted by Naomi Novik *** 1/2
32. The School For Unusual Girls by Kathleen Baldwin **
33. The Book Of Aron by Jim Shepard *** 1/2
34. Little Girl Lost by Richard Aleas ** 1/2
35. Irrationally Yours by Dan Ariely ** 1/2
36. My First Hundred Years In Show Business by Mary Louise Wilson *** 1/2
37. Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson *** 1/2
38. Circling The Sun by Paula McLain ***
39. In The Unlikely Event by Judy Blume ***
40. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling ** 1/2
41. Paper Towns by John Green ***
42. Looking For Alaska by John Green ***\
43. Fool's Quest by Robin Hobb ***
44. The Glass Sentence by S.E. Grove ***/
45. The Curious World Of Calpurnia Tate ***
46. The Intern's Handbook by Shane Kuhn ** 1/2
47. Hostile Takeover by Shane Kuhn ***
48. Mister Max: The Book Of Lost Things by Cynthia Voigt ***
49. Mister Max: The Book Of Secrets by Cynthia Voigt *** 1/2
50. Mister Max: The Book Of Kings by Cynthia Voigt ****
51. Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter *** 1/2
52. Pope Francis Among The Wolves by Marco Politi ** 1/2
53. Never Always Sometimes by Adi Alsaid ***/
54. Our Man In Charleston by Christopher Dickey ***
55. Katrina by Gary Rivlin ** 1/2
56. Slice Harvester by Colin Atrophy Hegendorf *** 1/2
57. We Believe The Children by Richard Beck *** 1/2
58. Carrying Albert Home by Homer Hickam *** /
59. South Toward Home by Margaret Eby ***
60. Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam ****
61. The Rest Of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness ***/
62. Sorcerer To The Crown by Zen Cho ***
63. Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster *** 1/2
64. Jade Dragon Mountain by Elsa Hart ***
65. Stand-Off By Andrew Smith *** 1/2
66. Finale by Thomas Mallon ***/
67. 1944: FDR And The Year That Changed History by Jay Winik *** 1/2
68. Symphony For The City Of The Dead by M.T. Anderson ****
69. Razzle Dazzle by Michael Riedel ** 1/2
70. Saving Capitalism by Robert Reich ** 1/2
71. A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston ***
72. Newt's Emerald by Garth Nix ** 1/2
73. Golden Age by Jane Smiley *** 1/2
74. The Silent Boy by Andrew Taylor ** 1/2
75. Sinatra: The Chairman by James Kaplan ***\
76. The Coalwood Way by Homer Hickam *** 1/2
77. The Keeper's Son by Homer Hickam ***/
78. Slade House by David Mitchell ***
79. Avenue Of Mysteries by John Irving ***
80. Dear Mr. You by Mary Louise Parker *** 1/2
81. Cast Of Characters by Thomas Vinciguerra ** 1/2
82. The Great Surge by Steve Radelet ***
83. The Cinder Spires: Aeronaut's Windlass by Jim Butcher *** 1/2
84. Beatlebone by Kevin Barry ***
85. How To Catch A Bogle by Catherine Jenkins ***
86. A Plague Of Bogles by Catherine Jenkins ***
87. Memory Theater by Simon Critchley ***
88. The Constable's Tale by Donald Smith ** 1/2
89. Between The World And Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates ****
90. A Brief History Of Creation by Bill Mesler and H. James Cleaves II *** 1/2
91. All About Sam by Lois Lowry ** 1/2
92. It's All Your Fault by Paul Rudnick (2016 release) ***
93. This Divided Island by Samanth Subramanian *** 1/2
94. The Revenant by Michael Punke *** 1/2
95. The Last Bogler by Catherine Jinks ***
96. Lizzie and the Lost Baby by Cheryl Blackford ***
97. Bryant And May And The Burning Man by Christopher Fowler *** 1/2
98. The Tevye Stories and Other Stories by Sholem Aleichem *** 1/2
99. Robert B. Parker's Ironhorse by Robert Knott ** 1/2
100. Robert B. Parker's Bull River by Robert Knott ** 1/2

Harry Potter and the Chamber Of Secrets ** 1/2Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 **

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2 in 3-D ***Harry Potter and the Goblet Of Fire ** 1/2Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ** 1/2Harry Potter and the Order Of The Phoenix ***Harry Potter and the Prisoner Of Azkaban ***Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone **Harvey ***

The Harvey Girls (1946) ** ½

The Hateful Eight (2015) ***

Have You Heard About The Morgans no stars

Le Havre ***

Hay Foot *Head ** 1/2

Headless Body In Topless Bar *

The Headless Woman/La Mujer Sin Cabeza * 1/2

Heartbreak Ridge **

Heartburn ** 1/2

The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things *

Heat (1995) ** 1/2

Heathers ***

Heat Lightning (1934) ** 1/2Heaven & Earth (1993) **

Heaven Can Wait (1943) ***

Heaven Can Wait (1978) ** ½

Heaven Help Us ** 1/2

Heavenly Creatures ***Heaven’s Gate **

Heavy *** 1/2

Hedwig and the Angry Inch *** 1/2He Got Game **

The Heiress ****

Hellboy ** 1/2Hellboy II: The Golden Army no stars

Hello, Dolly! * ½

Hell Or High Water *** ½

Help! **

Helvetica ***

Henry & June **

Henry V (1989) *** 1/2

Henry Fool **

Her (2013) *** ½

Hercules (1997) ** 1/2

Hereafter **Here Comes Mr. Jordan *** 1/2

Here Comes Trouble *Hero (2002) ** ½

He Said, She Said * ½

Hesher ***

The Hidden ***

The Hidden Blade (2004) ** ½

The Hidden Fortress *** ½

The Hidden Island (1960) ***

High and Low (1963) *** 1/2

High Anxiety **

High Art ** ½

Higher Learning **

High Fidelity ***

High Heels (1991) ** 1/2High Hopes ***

Highlander ***High Noon ***

High School Musical 3: Senior Year **

Hilary and Jackie ** 1/2

The Hi-Lo Country **

Hiroshima, Mon Amour ** 1/2

His Girl Friday ****

The History Boys **

History Of The World – Part I *

A History of Violence ***The Hitcher (1986) ***

The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy **

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) 3-D 48 fps **

The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug (2013) **

Hobson’s Choice *** 1/2

Holes **

Holiday (1938) *** 1/2

Holiday Affair (1949) ***

Holiday Inn ** 1/2

Holly (Asian prostitution) **

Holy Motors ** 1/2Holy Smoke **

A Home At The End Of The World **

Home For The Holidays **

Home Of The Brave (1986) ***

Home On The Prairie (Gene Autry)(1939) *

Homicide (1991) *** 1/2

Honeydripper ** 1/2

Honkytonk Man ***

Honolulu (1939) * 1/2

Hook *

Hoodwinked **Hoop Dreams *** 1/2Hooper ** 1/2

Hoosiers *** 1/2

Hope and Glory *** 1/2

Hope Floats **

Hopscotch ***

Horse Feathers ***

The Horse’s Mouth **The Horse Whisperer **

Hors Satan/Outside Satan **

The Host ***Hotel Colonial no stars

The Hotel New Hampshire **

Hotel Rwanda **

Hot Fuzz * ½

The Hottest State *

Hot Tub Time Machine *The Hound Of The Baskervilles (1939) ****

The Hours ***The Hours and Times ***House Calls ** ½

The Housekeeper’s daughter (1939) * ½

Housekeeping ***

The Housemaid *House Of Fear (Sherlock Holmes 1945) **House of Flying Daggers *** House Of Games ***